k my car was up on a hoist today and i wiggled the front tires and it wiggles. but it looks like it was made to mave back and forth a bit, what is the point of this??? i made a really crap drawing of what makes it sway just hope u get it>the muffler dude said he never seen a car with this, that moves so much. anyway y is it made to move like this? i would think i would be a bad thing being so loose if this is a really stupid question please dont mind it, i just like to no what everything does.

 

pic of the bar setup

 

you mean the center drag link? if thats worn out it will move back and forth like that if you wiggle the tires.

 

thats not supposed to do that, do you have play in your steering wheel?, next time you have a chance wiggle it again and look to see where it is loose, could be the centerlink, like timz2882 said, or the idler arm or the tie rods...

 

oh crap so its not supppost to wiggle, but by looking at the why its set up with that arm it look like its designed to move back and forth. i am gunna have this checked but tomorrow i will take another look and get a couple pics to show u what i mean.

 

also what is play in my steering wheel??

 

"Play" is when you can move the steering wheel, and the tires dont turn. for example your driving straight and you can move your steering wheel left or right and the car will stay straight.

 

well, straight in whatever line its traveling. usually if ur components are worn, that straight line = straight for the next lane

ya get under there and check that ur bushing are still in place - any fluid leaks can destroy bushings very very quickly if left untreated. also check for any major dents or kinks in the bar, maybe loose bolts. good luck.

 

Yes, the centerlink allows the tires to move back and forth--thats how you turn. The trick is that both tires should move at the same time. If you can move one tire without moving the other tire--something is worn out.

 

Was you steering wheel locked (key out of ignition)?

If the key was in the ignition and turned so the steering wheel was unlocked, then you could turn your tires from lock to lock on a lift. In that case, I would expect you would see the steering components move when you wiggle the tires.

If the steering wheel was locked and everything wiggles, then I agree with the other guys that you have some worn parts.

 

the most common method for proffesional mechanics to check the front end wear is to have someone wiggle the tire while they watch the steering linkage travel.

Place your hands at 3 and 9 o'clock on the wheel and wiggle it slightly left to right. This checks the steering linkage.

Putting your hands at 12 and 6 and wiggling it up and down checks the wheel bearing settings.

Putting a large prybar under the tire and actually lifting the tire up and down checks the ball joints.

Its hard to describe exactly what you're looking for. Basically....you want the entire linkage to move as one unit, if one piece is moving more than the others that means there's slop in there.

As an example...on my 89 rs i moved the wheel right and left and noticed that it traveled about 3 or 4 inches very easily. Looking at it i saw the outer tie rod was the only part that was moving.

Sure enough, i removed the tie rod and saw that it was badly worn. In fact it basically fell apart while i was playing with it a little.